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Updated Wednesday, July 2, 2008 0:00 am TWN, AP

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Thailand ends support of Cambodian temple claim

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thailand has suspended its decision to support Cambodia’s bid to have an 11th century temple near the Thai border declared a world landmark, the deputy prime minister said Tuesday.

The Cabinet’s decision came three days after the Administrative Court issued an injunction to temporarily suspend a Cabinet resolution backing Cambodia’s application to UNESCO for the Preah Vihear temple to be designated a World Heritage Site.

“The Cabinet agreed to suspend the resolution,” said Deputy Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat. “The Thai government will inform UNESCO and Cambodia on its decision.”

Saturday’s court order to temporarily suspend the resolution was issued at the request of the People’s Alliance for Democracy, a Thai group opposed to the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej.

The dispute surrounding the ancient temple continues to fuel nationalist sentiment in Thailand.

A small amount of territory adjacent to the temple remains in dispute, and critics claim cooperation with Cambodia over the heritage site application would jeopardize Thai claims to it.

The court’s action is a political embarrassment for the government, which is fighting accusations by opponents both inside and outside parliament that it ceded Thai territory to Cambodia. The issue was raised as one of the reasons why Samak should step down.

The ruling applies to a Cabinet resolution that endorsed a Cambodian map of Preah Vihear temple, as well as a joint communique signed June 18 in which Thailand said it supported Cambodia’s bid. The communique specifically said the application had no bearing on territorial claims by the countries.

But in its ruling, the Administrative Court said the communique “might undermine Thailand’s future standing on the territorial dispute.”

Cambodia has an internationally recognized claim over Preah Vihear temple and does not need Thai support for its application.

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the temple and the land it occupies to Cambodia, a decision that still rankles Thais even though the temple is culturally Cambodian, sharing the Hindu-influenced aspects of the more famous Angkor Wat in northwestern Cambodia.

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